


ink blooms

by silverjeno



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Tattoo Parlor, Confessions, Fluff, Light Angst, M/M, Polyamory, Questioning, Self-Discovery, Tattoos, just for a millisecond, norenmin, tattoo artist jeno, tattoo artist renjun
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-17
Updated: 2019-05-17
Packaged: 2020-03-07 00:23:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18861964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silverjeno/pseuds/silverjeno
Summary: huang renjun goes from doodles to tattoos and meets lee jeno along the way, who becomes the boy to teach renjun everything he knows about tattoos. and huang renjun thinks he just might be falling.then one day, na jaemin comes tumbling in, asking for a very special tattoo. and renjun thinks he might like him too.





	ink blooms

**Author's Note:**

> not edited yet sigh. also i know absolutely nothing about tattoo parlors, this is basically all based on imagination, so probably all of the details are wrong. but i wanted to try norenmin and i also wanted to try a tattoo artist au, so this happened. also i wrote this in exactly three sittings, two in january till 4 am, and one today till 1 am. anyways, enjoy your dose of norenmin.

Renjun still isn't really sure how it happened. 

There was this notebook. There always was, there always would be. Then again, it wasn't exactly a notebook. Rather, it was a sketchbook. With stiff white pages, some filled, some not. Renjun had a bad habit of opening to a random page and, if it was blank, drawing there, desperate to get the idea on paper before it evaporated. He doesn't know how many pages he's filled and he knows that one day, when he opens the sketchbook to get a drawing down in two dimensional space, he'll have no pages left. But Renjun never said he was very smart, now did he?

The sketchbook's existence was a bit complicated — people knew it existed, but not many knew what existed inside it. Some guessed, some didn't bother, and some referenced Schrödinger's Cat, questioning whether there was anything in it at all. 

And the day the box was left open, the cat decided to let it's presence be known. 

"Renjun, you didn't tell me you sketch like this," Renjun's older cousin Sicheng who he was living with as he studied for college cornered him one day, when he fell asleep with the sketchbook open, a solid gray line stretching proudly across the unfinished drawing, evidence of his falling asleep. 

Renjun frowned at the ruined page, rubbing the grogginess out of his eyes. Sicheng turned the sketchbook towards himself, flitting through the pages in awe. Littered with black and various intensities of gray, the sketchbook was full of doodles, motifs and abstract designs. There was often a splash of color when he would feel particularly creative about the design. 

He didn't really mind Sicheng looking through the doodles. Just because he didn't willingly show everyone what was inside the black-bound sketchbook didn't mean he was hiding anything in there. Renjun sat and absentmindedly eyed Sicheng, testing for his reactions. The older looked impressed. "So many of these are tattoo material," he commented. Renjun nodded. The thought wasn't foreign to him, he'd realized his art often ended up looking tattoo-esque and more than once, had one of his sketches ended up on either his or his friend Donghyuck's thighs on some summer day. 

"You know my friend Ten, right?" Sicheng asked, closing the sketchbook and pushing towards Renjun the bowl of cereal he had initially planned on giving the younger before he saw him sleeping not-so-graciously on the dining table. Renjun nodded as he picked up the spoon, only to let it fall back into the bowl when he realized he hadn't brushed his teeth yet. "Well," Sicheng began, "His boyfriend runs a tattoo studio." Renjun raised his eyebrows. "No, not a punk goth sort of tattoo place," Sicheng scoffed. "It's a pretty cool place. I'm actually heading there to pick Ten up for lunch today, you could sit in the studio for a while. The artists are pretty cool, maybe you could find some inspiration or ask them about platforms and stuff." 

Renjun thought about it for a while. He wasn't particularly busy that day, and he wasn't against the proposal either. "I don't see why not," Renjun said, as Sicheng beamed. "How long would I be there?" Sicheng shrugged, "Problem around two, three hours, it's just for lunch." 

Renjun nodded, "Sure I'm up for it. Let me go brush my teeth first though, I'm hungry."

When the afternoon rolls around and Renjun's standing in front of a brick-walled studio, his sketchbook and stationery set in his bag, he can't help but be impressed with the ambience of the place. There's a small bell that chimes when the two enter, and Ten immediately rushes over to welcome Renjun and introduce himself. There are quite a few houseplants scattered throughout the interior, and they look pretty real to Renjun. There's one brick wall as the accent wall, while the rest are plain white. "The furniture's cute," Renjun thinks as his eyes fall on what seems like a clothesline. There are three such lines, each with clothespins pinned at intervals. Most of the pins hold up what looks like sketches. "They're probably tattoo designs," Renjun thought.

A much taller man comes out from the back of the studio, a pair of nitrile gloves in his hand. "Renjun, right? I'm Johnny," he says, stretching his hand out to shake Renjun's. Renjun can distinctly hear Ten whisper 'cute' kid' to Sicheng, and he scoffs. He was in college, for goodness's sake, when would people stop calling him a cute kid?

"So you're in good hands now, Renjun, I'll be back in two hours or so," Sicheng says, waving as he exits the door, followed by Ten, who adds in a small wave for Renjun after sending a flying kiss to Johnny, who just laughs and waves back.

"So I hear you're into sketching and doodling?" Johnny says as he turns to throw the gloves in the trash can. Renjun nodded in response and Johnny continues, "Well you're welcome to sit wherever you want and get doodling. Except the tattoo chsirs, I doubt your cousin would be too happy about that." They both laugh. "You can check out our design line over there, it has all the designs we've inked this month. You can come into the back too if you want to see a tattoo place in action. I think Jaehyun's still finishing up on a customer, but he'll be free soon and you can talk to either of us if you're curious about anything." Johnny dusts off his already clean hands as he finishes talking to Renjun.

Renjun glances at the passage to 'the back' quickly before looking back at the taller man. Johnny catches on quickly, and turns to the passage himself, calling Renjun with a hand gesture and a 'come on'. 

When Renjun moves to the back, he notices it's a lot less decorated compared to the outer area. There are also machines and tattoo chairs in this room that weren't in the previous one. There's a brown haired man bent over a young woman's ankle and a buzzing noise that fills the room. Johnny pulls up a normal chair next to the long desk stretching across the entire right wall, gesturing that this would be Renjun's space for the day. 

Renjun takes his seat and takes out his drawing materials. Johnny moves away, showing that he's respectful of the younger's artistic space, and it makes Renjun feel nice. He looks around at the studio for a while, watching the brown-haired tattoo artist — probably jaehyun — work with intense focus, and Johnny sit and filing paperwork. It was a strange environment for Renjun, in the sense that he'd never been in such a place before, but he felt surprisingly at home. It was neat, with minimal décor and a sort of artistic ambience that made Renjun want to draw. 

So he did. He hunched over the desk, with a pencil in his hand and set to doodling.

Somewhere in the middle, the buzzing had stopped and Renjun could hear Johnny and Jaehyun chatting on their own. Renjun had set up camp in the corner for almost over an hour now. He had color pencils scattered to his right, as he added color to the design he'd made. When he feels like he's done, he dusts off anything that could be on the paper and holds it up in the light, sighing contently when he feels satisfied at the sight of the completed sketch. He hears a low whistle behind him and turns around to see an unfamiliar boy standing at the doorway, black haired with glasses and a denim jacket.

"That's pretty neat, whoever gets that tatted on them is gonna be lucky," the strange boy says. Johnny comes up and introduces, "That one's not a tattoo design, it's just one of Renjun's sketches. He's just an artist, no tattoo involved." Renjun laughed. "Renjun, this is Jeno. He's probably just around your age, and he works here part-time." Jeno waves and when he smiles, Renjun witnesses the most adorable eye smile he'd ever seen, and suddenly he wasn't all that wary of the other boy anymore.

"Oh, and by the way, Johnny hyung, there's a customer waiting outside," Jeno informed, coming closer to Renjun to take a better look at his sketch. The two exchange further introductions as Jeno flips through Renjun's sketchbook. Renjun doesn't remember Jeno asking, but he doesn't really mind. 

In the background, he can hear Johnny trying to help the customer decide what design they want tattooed, and the customer seems to have a hard time deciding as she looked through the pre-made designs pinned up on the corkboard in front of the long desk. Renjun turns around for a split second to see the situation, exposing his sketchbook to the customer unknowingly.  
But when the customer gasps with her eyes trained directly in the direction of the book in Jeno's hands, it's unmistakable where she's looking. The sketchbook is open to one of Renjun's older sketches. A simple black outline of a teacup with pale blue fluffy clouds spilling over the top. 

Johnny hurriedly counters that that design isn't up for tattooing and is about to steer her away, when Renjun bursts that she can have it if she wants. Johnny looks at him with an unreadable expression and Renjun confirms, "I don't mind or anything. Sure, it'll be weird thinking that there's someone walking around with my drawing on their skin, but it's cool, I guess." The woman looks delighted.

Renjun tags along as Johnny takes her through the steps of tattooing — he watches as Johnny traces his sketch out on trace paper, then retraces it into what'll be the guide for the tattoo. No changes are made to the original design, to Renjun's relief, and when the process is finally done and he sees his doodle staring back at him from a stranger's upper forearm, he feels confused about exactly how he feels, but can't help the smile on his face. 

When Johnny goes back to the outer area with the customer to finish up the official work, Renjun turns to Jeno, beaming, and says, "I wanna do that, too."

Johnny ends up very amused when he returns to the room to see Renjun standing there with a wild grin, Jeno behind him, even more excited, if that was even possible. Sicheng's content when he hears it, and is more than willing to let Renjun come to the studio every day to learn. 

Turns out learning how to be a tattoo artist isn't the easiest thing. It's not just 'think of a design then go ink it', there's a lot more work involved. And oh, does Renjun curse Jeno for telling him that the tattoo gun was 'super easy to use'. But at the same time, it's Jeno who ends up helping Renjun the most as he learns — reminding him that 'the gloves go in the bin, not on the desk' before Johnny scolded him for it again, encouraging him when he felt frustrated, helping him to give a final touch on his practises. Turns out, Jeno goes to the same university as him, but different colleges under it - Jeno's in Comparative Literature, while Renjun's studying Chemistry. Their routines don't match one bit, except for those few hours the overlap in the cozy tattoo studio. 

When the day finally comes when Johnny, while peering over Renjun's shoulder at his work, comments, "I think you're ready for the real deal now.", no one is as proud as Jeno. Well, okay, maybe Sicheng is prouder.

Everyone looks expectantly at Renjun, even Jaehyun who, despite seeming quiet and distant at first, ended up being just quiet in general. Distant? Not anymore. Johnny suggests that he could even try helping out with the next customer. "Not the whole tattoo!" Johnny explains as Renjun pales at the thought of tattooing a customer and messing things up. "Just a little portion, so you can get a taste of it." 

It seems harmless, and Renjun knows Johnny won't let him mess up too bad, but he still panics at the idea of getting a line crooked and getting Johnny in trouble. They sit and wait for the person with the appointment for the afternoon to come in, and Renjun feels fidgety at the anticipation. "You're gonna have to have a first tattoo job someday," comforts Jeno, moving his chair closer to Renjun's so that the older men couldn't hear. Renjun looks up at him, asking "What was your first tattoo job?" Jeno laughed, "It was this guy who was working on his sleeve. But his arm was already super crowded, and I accidentally made one of the lines kinda squiggly, but he didn't even notice." Renjun giggled, but soured again when he thought that if Jeno, who was now exemplary at the art, had messed up on his first try, he'd probably do worse. And with his luck, he'd get some grumpy perfectionist customer. He unconsciously shivered at the thought.

Jeno raised his eyebrows. "You're really nervous about this, aren't you?" Renjun merely sighed in return. "You don't have to do this today if you're not comfortable. You know Johnny won't push you or anything." Renjun nodded. "But you're gonna have to try on someone someday, Injun." Renjun stared up at the now experienced artist, and suddenly without even thinking, he blurted, "Can I try on you?" 

Jeno is surprised, to say the least. He hadn't been expecting any particular reply from Renjun, but this? This definitely didn't cross his mind. He's quick to control his expression, though so that Renjun doesn't withdraw into himself. Jeno's literature major mind is buzzing at how meaningful the wish is — Renjun had started this venture with Jeno's encouragement and Jeno had led him by the hand through the whole process. It only made sense (according to Jeno's poetic mind) that Renjun would want to seal the deal on this venture, with the person he had ventured with. Jeno told his poetic mind to shut up.

Renjun doesn't miss the surprise on Jeno's face, though, but strangely, doesn't find it in himself to shy away. Jeno's skin isn't a blank canvas, there are small tattoos that peek out from under his sleeves and above his socks. So far, Renjun's seen a cartoon cat, and a simple outline of a five point star. He's never asked what they mean, and he wonders if Jeno wouldn't want to get a tattoo that wasn't very close to his heart. But when Jeno answers yes in the same soft voice as the one Renjun had asked in, Renjun's at ease. Only for a moment though because then the fear of messing up Jeno's bare skin with a wonky tattoo fills him. 

But before Renjun can undo what he's done so far, Jeno calls out to Johnny, "Renjun's gonna tattoo me." Renjun nearly chokes at how blunt that sentence was, and judging from Johnny's expression, the older is equally as surprised. "Are you two sure about this?" questions Jaehyun. 

"It's just a tattoo hyung, it'll be fine," Jeno waves off their worry. "Now what do you want to tattoo on me?" Jeno turns to Renjun. Renjun's confused. "But you're getting the tattoo, what do _you_ want?" Jeno smiles. "It's your first tattoo art, I know it probably means a lot to you, so you choose, I'm fine with whatever."

Then follows the half an hour of Jaehyun and Johnny watching as the two come up with millions of ideas for tattoos and bin then as soon as they are formed. Johnny's amused expression fades into frustration, but Jaehyun just pats him on the back with a laugh. Somewhere in the middle they hear, Jeno say, "How about just an 'R' for Renjun?" There's the sound of Renjun hitting Jeno's arm and saying, "No, you're not supposed to get names tattooed! Don't you know that's bad luck?" Jeno laughs at Renjun's fear and counters, "That's for couples though, so unless you're suggesting—" Renjun cuts him off with an embarrassed groan. 

Jaehyun's pats fail to calm Johnny for long though, and he finally let's his impatience get the better of him when he says, "Just choose quick, it's been ages, this is just a small test run!"

Renjun looks sheepish, while Jeno perks up. "Test run, that's it, go for it." Renjun nearly chokes again. "You want me to tattoo 'test run' onto your skin?" "Yes," says Jeno, "It's random and has a not uninteresting back story, and I can get it near my ankle, that'd be funny."

Renjun still looks a bit skeptical, but lets that feeling melt as he sees how sure Jeno looks about it. Jeno moves to the tattoo chair, and sits and watches as Renjun moves around the studio, getting everything he needs, murmuring the steps under his breath. Soon enough, Jeno's left ankle is disinfected and the guide for the tattoo is on his skin. Renjun takes a deep breath as the whirring of the tattoo gun fills the room. Jaehyun and Johnny are watching, excited to see Renjun finally give his first tattoo and Jeno just looks at Renjun's eyes and says, "It's okay."

In the end, the S and the R end up a bit crooked, but it looks artistic, almost, and Jeno loves it. Renjun loves it too, and takes billions of photos from billions of angles before he has to dress the tattoo, and even when it's under the wrap, Renjun can't help but stare at it. "It's done!" exclaims Jeno, eye smile on full display. "It's done," repeats Renjun, relief and happiness in his voice.

*

It's been a while since Renjun's 'Test Run' and since then, he'd helped out in quite a lot of tattoos. There was a dry period during mid-,sems when both Renjun and Jeno had to take a break from the studio, and during those weeks, the only interaction the two could manage to have was through texts. When they resumed their regular positions as artists in the studio, they were chaotic as ever, practically joined at the hip and talking in what seemed like alien code to Jaehyun and Johnny. But the two older artists let the youngers be, free to live their youth. 

They were thick as thieves within mere days, texting frequently, exchanging memes, and just enjoying themselves when they were together. At the beginning, they felt comfort with one another. But Renjun's heart didn't stop there. He couldn't stop himself from finding the younger's eye smile endearing, or feeling jittery when he woke up to a good morning text from none other than Jeno himself. 

They were touchier, too. Jeno would rest his chin on Renjun's shoulder as he watched him sketch, Renjun would pat away at Jeno's hand making grabby gestures at the sketchbook, until finally holding it in his own to put an end to the jostle, but never really letting go of his hand later. Renjun knew what he was doing, and knew what it might suggest to the younger, but Jeno, bless him, he didn't seem to read the signs all that well. But Renjun felt at ease that Jeno never turned him away, or showed discomfort at Renjun's actions. Jeno might not understand everything, but when he did understand, he let it be known. 

Like now, as the two sit at the desk, Renjun holding up a piece of paper to him, Jeno smiles, "It's our design." Renjun can feel his heart beat go a little wonky at that statement, but he returns Jeno's smile before looking back at the paper to admire what the two had created. It was a simple mix of Jeno and Renjun's styles — black line art on the exterior with a floral design in the centre, a splash of color in the petals. They stuck it on the corkboard above their little workspace, and admired it for a second. 'Their design'. 

*

The first time they see the pink-haired boy is during a lazy Wednesday afternoon. When the bell on the front door chimes at 3:30 pm, both of them know it's Mark Lee, one of Johnny's friends, who came for his touch-up appointment. But neither of them had bargained for the boy that had entered behind him, his pink head bobbing excitedly as he looked around. The boy almost _radiates_ brightness as he enters the back of the studio, his curiosity visibly skyrocketing as he took in the whole set up. Renjun notices a yellow sun tattooed on his wrist though, and deduces that he'd definitely been in a tattoo studio before, so it couldn't be the room that was intriguing him so much. So Renjun passes it off on the assumption that he must just be very bubbly in general. 

Renjun tries to mind his own business as he watches Jeno work in Mark's forearm, but his eyes have a mind of their own and they keep glancing at the strange boy, until he finally forces himself to stop staring. He only looks up again when Jaemin asks, "Can I get a tattoo, too?" Jaehyun finds their schedule free and Renjun can't help his own curiosity when Jaehyun says, "Is there any design you have in mind?" By this time, Jeno's finished up the touch up and is wiping away the ink smudges of Mark's arm as he, too watches the exchange, finally getting to look at the pink-haired boy properly.

"I kinda already chose," Jaemin says sheepishly, and Jaehyun claps his hands together. "Great, which one is it?" Renjun's heart drops to his stomach when he sees Jaemin walk up to the corkboard and point directly at Renjun and Jeno's sketch. When Renjun hesitantly looks at Jeno to gauge his reaction, he sees Jeno already looking at him. 'That one isn't actually an open design option," Jaehyun explains, sparing the two from having to say it themselves. Jaemin almost _deflates_ and Renjun can't help but feel guilty. Jeno must have noticed him souring, so he wordlessly rests his hand on top of Renjun's, patting it twice to let him know that the way he feels is okay.

"Oh, well to be honest, I really only asked because I liked that design, but it's cool," Jaemin says, and within a split second, he's becoming brighter again, while Renjun still can't help the way his heart droops.  
Mark decides to wait until Johnny comes into the studio, just say 'hi' before leaving. Renjun stays quiet at the beginning, letting Jeno and Jaemin talk. Jeno glances at the artist from time to time, but Renjun looks fine and is listening intently to the conversation. So Jeno goes on.  
Coincidentally, Jaemin ends up a student from a college not too far from theirs. Had Jeno or Renjun cared about sports, they might have known that Jaemin is from a rival school, but neither of them quite cares enough. By the time Johnny is back, the three have exchanged phone numbers with a promise to hang out some time. 

Once Mark and Jaemin are out the door, Jeno rounds on Renjun. “Renjun, don’t feel bad about not letting Jaemin use our design. It’s totally justified.” Renjun sighs in response. “Plus,” Jeno adds, a bit quieter, “I didn’t want to give him our design either.” Renjun looks up at the taller boy to see a sheepish smile on his face, and he responds with one of his own. _Our design._

*

It isn’t until about a week after the three had met that Jaemin finally brings up the suggestion of them going to eat somewhere together. They end up at a sandwich place, Jeno and Renjun on one side of the booth and Jaemin, all bright smiles, on the other side. 

“Maybe we should’ve gotten a circle table so we’d be at equal distances from each other. I’m sure everyone’s thinking I’m third wheeling here.” 

Renjun started. _‘Would they really? A couple? Them?’_

Jeno coughed. “We’re not-“

“Oh, I know,” Jaemin laughed, “I’m just saying.” 

Renjun still feels heat crawling up the back of his neck, though, slightly flustered at the idea of people seeing him and Jeno as a couple, the idea of them _being_ a couple. But he looks back at Jaemin and finds him looking in their direction with a bizarre expression rather than the smug or teasing expression that Renjun had been expecting. He cocks his head to the side. _‘Whatever must that expression mean?’_

 _‘I wonder_ what _people must be thinking looking at the three of them.’_

*

Days pass by quickly, just like the days of any busy college student. He and Jeno meet at the tattoo parlour, and the three of them continue their occasional meetings. They’ve exchanged social media too, of course, and a scroll through Jeno and Jaemin’s instagrams tells Renjun that the two of them have been hanging out too. Renjun looks at the photos, the smiles on both of their faces, feeling warm at the sight. At the beginning, he notices Jeno more, but after a few weeks, Renjun realizes he’s looking at both of them equally. Except, he’s still a bit shy around bright and vociferous Jaemin.

He’s sure Jaemin notices this fact too, but he’s thankful that Jaemin never pushes him to do something unless Renjun takes the initiative. And he’s happy. Because eventually things will settle.

When exam time comes their way, Renjun, unfortunate science student, has exams after Jeno’s end. Jaemin’s exam week had ended a few days after theirs had started. The day Renjun’s exams finally end is also a day where he’s usually supposed to go to the tattoo place. Johnny had offered for Renjun to take that day off to and just enjoy himself, but after more than two weeks away from the shop, Renjun just wants to be back in the comfort of the art filled walls and the buzz of the tattoo gun in Jaehyun’s hand.

**renjun :**

**otw to the tattoo place.**

**exams overrrrrrrrrrr**

**for now rip**

**see you there**

When Renjun turns onto the street, he sees figures outside the place. Or is it just one? 

Walking closer, he finds himself recognizing Jeno’s back and opens his mouth with a smile to call out for him.

But the sound dies in his throat, sputtering out as Jeno turns slightly and-

He had been right when he had seen ‘figures’. Because right now, his eyes can see the way Jeno pushes Jaemin’s body against the brick wall, leaning in, and the way Jaemin’s hand flails to grab at Jeno’s shirt; only now noticing that Jaemin is taller than Jeno by just a bit.

And he stands there transfixed as Jaemin goes from feebly pushing Jeno away to holding on to him. And it hurts, but he doesn’t know why because he’s feeling too many things right now and he’s about to back away, but his sneaker makes an ugly sound against the pavement and the two boys turn to look at the shortest among them and for some reason there are tears running down Renjun’s cheeks, but what is even more peculiar is that there are matching tears racing down Jeno’s face as the latter’s eyes widen when he finally takes in the image of the former standing barely a few feet away. 

And Renjun is confused. By Jeno, by Jaemin and especially by himself and the emotions that bubble in him that feel unnatural. And he continues backing away, despite the sob that emerges from Jeno’s mouth, the way that Jaemin calls his name out before reaching out to help Jeno who looks like he’s about to fall. Then he’s running, trying to make his way back to the safety of Sicheng’s house. And he doesn’t want to look back. Not yet.

*

“Uh, Jaemin, with all due respect, I honestly think you’re the last person he wants to see.”

Sicheng is handing Jeno a tissue as he says this, but Jaemin seems incessantly bent on talking to Renjun. Jeno just sniffles. “Just give us ten minutes, if he doesn’t want to talk, we’ll leave in dot ten minutes,” Jaemin tries to bargain. Sicheng is clearly giving the proposition some thought when Jaemin hears Renjun’s voice drift from the upstairs portion of the house, speaking, most probably in Mandarin. Jeno lifts his head at the sound.

Sicheng groans, “Fine, go up,” and heads off to the living room before the two even enter the house. 

The two make their way up the stairs, Jaemin carefully and Jeno, clearly nervous. Renjun calls an “In here” when the two are at the second floor and Jaemin enters first to find Renjun sat in the middle of the bed, against the headboard, with his legs curled up to his chest under the soft duvet. Jaemin _wants_ to offer that he and Jeno sit on either side of the smaller boy, but he knows that it isn’t the time yet, so he sits near the foot of the bed and pulls Jeno, whose lower lip has unconsciously jutted out into a pout, along with him.

“Jeno has something to explain,” Jaemin begins gently and Jeno’s head whips towards him, his eyebrows furrowed. He quickly follows, “I have things to say too, but Jeno needs to go first.”

Jeno sniffs. “Renjun, I’m,” he pauses. “I’m sorry I hurt you. And I’m sorry if what I’m going to say is gonna hurt you even more, but it’s been eating away at me for a while and I just have to say it now.”

Jeno takes a deep breath. “I like you, Renjun.” Quiet. “I’ve liked you since I met you in the tattoo place, since I saw your drawings, since I started teaching you.” More quiet. Then-

“Me too.” Renjun hasn’t looked up at either of them, but the soft mumble is enough acknowledgement. “Well, go on,” he mumbles again, making Jaemin smile slightly. 

“And then, we met Jaemin.” Renjun’s expression doesn’t change. “And even when we went to that sandwich place the first time, I was overjoyed at the thought of the two of us looking like a couple in the eyes of others some day. But then we started hanging out more, the three of us _and_ just me and Jaemin. And Renjun, I started liking him too. And at the beginning I just felt so bad and I convinced myself that I was mistaken and there was no way I would like him more than I like you.” Unnoticed by the other two in the room, Jaemin winced slightly.

“But then days passed and I couldn’t help it, I couldn’t deny it that I liked you both. And it got so hard to hang out with Jaemin cuz I kept thinking that it was wrong. But I felt so happy. And it’s like two sides of me fighting in my mind _constantly_. And – don’t laugh – but I googled it okay, and I found some stuff, I’ll tell you about that later. ”

By this point, Renjun has finally looked up. “And today I knew you were coming so I wanted to greet you and Jaemin wanted to meet you too, and he was just there and just all the confusion and the google results and it just happened. And it felt _right_. And, Renjun, you can like more than one person at once, and if all of you like each other then-” Jeno is now slightly tripping over his words in the rush to get them out. “But, Renjun, if that’s not the way you feel, if you can’t feel that way, I’m so sorry if I hurt you. But I just had to. Just please, Renjun, will you say something?”

Renjun looks startled, suddenly having been addressed directly. “I’m… Hurt.” Jeno’s face falls, and so does Jaemin’s. “But not because you guys,” he flushes, “Did the thing, but because…No one told me anything. And I- I didn’t google anything, Jeno, and I was just sitting here feeling so confused because I thought I liked you, but then I also thinking that I liked Jaemin, and I thought that meant neither of it was real. And when I saw you two… I wasn’t hurt seeing you two together, it feels weird, warm, but not painful. What _was_ painful was wanting to be there with both of you, and not in a friend way, but thinking that it was so wrong and- Is this really possible? Three-?”

“It’s possible, and it’s perfectly fine,” Jaemin cut in for the first time in a while. “And for the record, I liked the both of you from the very day we met, and I knew about poly-“ Renjun let out a soft ‘oh’ at the word “-but I didn’t want to push you both two fast without knowing how you two felt. And… Do you still think you’ll never like me as much as you like Renjun?” Jaemin asks, sounding vulnerable for the first time since the three had met.

“Jaem, no, I like you both with all my heart,” Jeno scoots closer to the boy. Renjun softly calls out at the movement, “Can you both come sit here?” Jaemin looked up and Renjun had his palms on the two spaces on either side of him. _‘Ah, it was the time now.’_

Once all the boys were sitting near the headboard, the smallest in the middle, said smallest spoke up softly, “I like you both a lot too.” 

After a lot of joint googling, Sicheng poking his head in in the middle, and a lot of talking between the three of them themselves, Renjun could finally say his heart was at ease. It was new, this concept, but something in him told him that it was just _so right._

*

“Something tells me that I’ll be having to tolerate another college student in this tattoo parlour,” Jaehyun says, walking in, just as Jaemin ruffles Renjun’s hair, earning a soft yelp from the latter. Jeno laughs.

“Hey, Jaehyun hyung,” Jaemin called, waving slightly. “Hi-“ Jaehyun’s greeting is cut off. “Is that-?” Jaehyun glances at the cork board. “Oh my god.”

Renjun looks down at Jaemin’s arm that is back at his side now. Jeno peers from over Jaemin’s shoulder too and merely shrugs at Jaehyun. “I guess it is,” Jaemin says, looking fondly at the swirls of black and pink that lace his right forearm now. 

And the space above Renjun and Jeno’s workplace lacks one very specific piece.

**Author's Note:**

> the tattoo : http://www.chicbetter.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/rose-tattoos-10.jpg


End file.
